Much longer than forever
by Celeste-Hellgirl
Summary: Shin Makoku has almost attained the peace that they have been long yearning for. With Yuuri as their present Maou, what could go wrong?This story is not as sad and romantic as it seems, but it's YUURAM.So please find out for yourself and read! Thanks!
1. Prologue: Much longer than forever

**Prologue: Much longer than forever, what is there to see?**

"_Peace. I thought it would last forever… The peace that he had brought upon us, is now gone…"_

Peace.

It was peace, which had reined over Shin Makoku after the historical battle between Shinou and the 27th Maou King Yuuri Shibuya. There was nothing more anyone could ask for. Shin Makoku has also allied with Big Shimaron and its new King after Belar. Even though the humans and the Mazokus are not living together, their gates are open to each other and everyone is welcome to cross the borders, may they be human or mazoku. We can say that were getting to it, thanks to Yuuri. Now, it has been almost a year since Yuuri accepted the duty as the Maou. I wonder, what would have happened if Yuuri declined the obligation to be the Maou? Perhaps? No, the word is definitely, the world would have been destroyed. And hence, I wouldn't even be here! Now, I am here to retell the seemingly endless story of what seemed like forever.

Like I said,

It has been 3 months after Yuuri and his friend, Murata traveled back to Shin Makoku again. It was probably the happiest day that Yuuri ever had, ever since that little battle with Shinou-heika. But today, is also a wonderful day for Yuuri and all the citizens of Shin Makoku, for today marks the era of a new beginning. Today, Yuuri and the new King of Big Shimaron, King Hedrick, have signed an official Peace treaty. And thus, Big Shimaron declares their alliance with the Great Demon Kingdom. (Shin Makoku, for short). So, tonight, Shin Makoku is hosting a feast at the Blood Pledged Castle. The thrown room was filled with all of their close allies and all the representative of their neighboring countries, including Big Shimaron's.

"_It's nice seeing you again, Yuuri!" _Lady Flurin greeted as she gave him a smile.

"_It's been a while Lady Flurin! How is Caloria doing?" _Yuuri asked.

"_We're doing well. Although we are having a little trouble with Small Shimaron about our territories but we're getting to it." _She replied.

"_Well, I hope that you settle that..." _Yuuri said.

Meanwhile, at the balcony outside the thrown room,

"_Lord Wolfram, it's a pleasure seeing you again after 5 long years…" _ Lord Aldrich of Mutchcuffin, one of Wolfram's distant cousins said as he took a zip on his wine glass.

"_Well, I'm certainly am not happy to see you here, if only Yuuri hadn't insisted on inviting you here, I wouldn't have sent the invitation. You are too much of a wacko! You jerk." _Wolfram replied calmly, but yet the words he used were quite…cruel?

"_Oh Little Lord Brat my friend, you're still the same, you never changed a bit." _Lord Aldrich smirked; it was obvious that he was drunk.

"_And why should I change?" _ Wolfram snapped.

"_Tssk, tssk… You know what I think about your engagement with King Yuuri? I think his just using your engagement for his own pleasure, my dear cousin. Come to think of it, King Yuuri has that benevolent and kind-hearted image. The minute he breaks your engagement, all of Shin Makoku would lose their love and faith on him. They will think of how cruel, tactless, insensitive_, _and non-loving he is, and your fiancé will lose the mazoku's trust and fidelity. And therefore lose the throne and every riches that he has now… (Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah….and so on)"_

As he went on criticizing his engagement with Yuuri, Wolfram's blood boiled with fury. His grip on his wine glass became harder and harder. He tried so much to keep his temper, but hell. He can't take it any longer. He has to some how stop the guy from blabbering nonsense or else he'll explode! As his hold of the wine glass stiffened even more, and Lord Aldrich still went on, the wine glass shattered into pieces and as drops of blood fell down on the floor…

Meanwhile,

"_King Yuuri, how about you? How have you been doing?" _asked Lady Flurin.

"_I'm fine…and I'm happy, especially now that we've settle accounts with Big Shimaron. I think that the peace that this world had long been yearning for will be finally attained." _Yuuri said, satisfied.

"_I for one think that we've attained it already, because of you King Yuuri." _ Lady Flurin held Yuuri's hand, as if she's assuring him of something.

"_I"VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU! YOU JERK!" _then a loud explosion was heard from outside the balcony.

"_Oh...No…" _Yuuri said to himself, worried that his assumptions were right. Realizing that he was, indeed right, "_Excuse me, Lady Flurin…" _He smiled to her then he made his way to the balcony.

"_HELP ME!" _Yuuriheard a cry from outside, but no one dared to check it out, knowing whose doing it was.

But well, we all know Yuuri…

The Maou then went outside to check on what was happening and what welcomed him was the scenario he expected to see.

"_Wolfram! Don't!" _he cried as he ran towards Wolfram, who was holding a fireball on the palm of his hands and was ready to charge at the drunken Lord Aldrich.

"_He's not worth it." _ Yuuri said as he gestured to Gisela for a first aid kit for Wolfram's cuts.

And then Conrad came running down to them and asked, _"Heika, what happened?" _

"_I don't know, but I think you should take Lord Aldrich here, away from Wolfram." _He said.

"_Of course, your majesty," _Conrad then carried the unconscious guy to away from them.

As Gisela came back with the first aid, Gunter came rushing unto them as well.

"_Your Majesty, Wolfram, are you both okay? What happened?" _He asked worriedly.

"_I have no idea, but we'll explain later. Just close the curtains, I'll take care of this, just go on with the party. We'll just come in again later." _Yuuri whispered to his most trusted adviser.

"_Of course, heika," _Gunter bowed to his king and went on with his orders. He then went back inside and the thrown room.

"_Everyone let us enjoy the party!" _He announced.

Well, the moment Gunter closed the curtains and the two of were left alone, Yuuri proceeded with treating Wolfram's cuts.

For a moment, the two remained silent. But we all no Yuuri,

"_You got to admit, what you did was pretty reckless." _Yuuri commented as he bandaged up Wolfram's right hand.

"_Well, didn't I tell you? That guy really pisses me off!"_ Wolfram answered back.

"_But still, you should have been… calmer." _ Yuuri smiled at this. He knew that the word _calm _never goes with his _fiancé._

"_So you're saying it's my fault then?" _Wolfram gave Yuuri fiery glare that made the young king shiver to the bones.

"_Of course, not!" _Yuuri denied. _"Well, it's just, it's well; let's just take it like this, his not going to change, and he'll be a piss off forever, so, well you should be the one adjusting." _

"_And why should I?" _Wolfram snapped, crossing his arms together.

"_Because you'll always be a better person than he'll ever be, and I know that you can do that more than that drunken guy. Didn't you adjust with me as well, didn't you? You came to like me after a few months when I became the Demon King, right?" _ Yuuri gave Wolfram another one of his goofy, but cute smile.

"_Who ever said I like you, you wimp." _ The blond then stood up from where he was situated.

Yuuri just smiled at him.

"_Well, what are you waiting for? We should get inside, it's getting cold and your guests must be looking for you. This is your party after all." _Wolfram shrugged.

They then went inside and joined the celebration.

Even after that little commotion that, the celebration was still on. Although, Gwendal and Conrad had kept an eye with Lord Aldrich for the rest of the night, that kept them pretty occupied than to enjoy.

Now, Yuuri and Wolfram had decided to have a little rest and sat the dining table. A few moments later, Lady Flurin joined the two.

"_Oh, King Yuuri, I really enjoyed your party tonight, it's a pleasure visiting Shin Makoku again." _Lady Flurin took a zip onto her wine glass.

"_It's nothing, Lady Flurin, its pleasure to have you here as well." _ Yuuri smiled.

"_So, Wolfram, how are you?" _ She turned to Wolfram.

"_I'm fine as always." _Wolfram replied.

"_I'm glad." _Lady Flurin smiled. _"So, when are the two of you planning to get married?" _She curiously asked.

Wolfram fell silent. Not that he's disappointed or anything similar to it, he just doesn't know what to answer. Well, whenever the blond would bring forth the subject, Yuuri would just change the topic. The young Maou desperately avoids the matter. This made Wolfram self-pity.

"_We're actually planning to hold it by the end of the year." _Yuuri answered, which surprised Wolfram.

"_What? We are? That's preposterous!" _Wolfram cracked.

"_Well, it's not really 'we', I just thought that may be we should have the wedding as early as possible. I mean I'm turning sixteen next month and well, I'm getting older. I'm not going to grow younger, you know? And besides, I already asked Gwendal and Conrad about it and they thought it was a great idea, but I don't know about Gunter, he was happy about my decision but his nose was bleeding up until this morning." _Yuuri explained. _"Didn't I tell you that last night?"_

"_You never… told me… about that…" _ Wolfram's brows crouched in confusion.

"_But I told you that last night when I went up to our room; you were already at bed then, but you were still talking." _Yuuri thought.

"_You do know that I talk at my sleep… Don't you?" _ Wolfram reminded Yuuri. Yuuri just gave Wolfram a nervous chuckle.

"_Oh that's wonderful! You're getting married by the end of the year!" _Lady Flurin shrieked. _"But that would be three months from now! That's wonderful! I'm so happy for the two of you?' _

Yuuri grabbed a hold of Wolfram's hand from below the table and replied. _"I'm happy as well."_

Wolfram just looked at Yuuri with disbelief. _"Yuuri…"_

After the celebration, some maids and soldiers stayed in the throne room to remove decors and clean the huge room. As for the others, they went up to their respective chambers

Even after exactly 6hours, 37minutes, and 25seconds, Wolfram was still asking himself if it was really true or not. Although, you can't really blame the guy, I mean, Yuuri never really showed any interest on their _accidental engagement_. Yuuri always avoided talking about it. He would always change the topic whenever the matter was brought forth by anyone. He would as much as possible hide this so- called betrothal of his. A man's mind is truly a maze to death… Correction: Yuuri's mind is truly a maze to death… That's just it.

'_Yuuri, what are you thinking? You're confusing me… I can't read what's on your mind anymore, well not that I could before…'_

"_Hey Wolf, did you enjoy the party tonight?" _asked Yuuri as he lied beside Wolfram on the king-sized bed.

"_It's fine." _ Wolfram replied as he cuddled inside the blanket.

"_You didn't answer my question at all." _Yuuri complained but no reply.

"_Hey Wolf, are you still a wake? HHHEEEEYYY… Wolfram… Wolf? This is no good, he's asleep! Men, this guy can sleep through anything!" _Yuuri then closed his eyes and drifted off to dreamland.

"_I'm hope this day would last forever… or even much longer than that…" _ Yuuri said on his sleep.

But then a mysterious voice replied, _"I'm sorry Yuuri, but it won't…"_

This where it all begins…


	2. Chapter 1: The DEATH of THE LOVED ONE

**Chapter 1: The Death of THE of the LOVED ONE**

This where it all begins…

A few days after the celebration,

Yuuri was signing some papers with the help of Gwendal in his office, when suddenly,

"_Lord Gwendal! Yozak reporting on duty, sir!" _ Yozak barge into the room and gave Gwendal a salute.

"_What's all this fuss about?" _asked Gwendal.

"_Your Excellency…" _Yozak then, handed Gwendal a piece of paper.

Gwendal stared at the folded paper and asked, _"What is it?" _

"_Why don't you try reading it, your Excellency? That letter was from Big Shimaron." _ Yozak replied.

Gwendal then opened the paper and read the letter. As he read the letter his forehead crouched and his hands crunched into fists.

"_What is it about, Gwendal?" _Yuuri asked innocently.

"_It's a letter for you, from King Hedrick of Big Shimaron. You might want to read it yourself." _ Gwendal gave Yuuri the letter.

While reading the letter, his eyes grew bigger. And the said letter slipped out of his hand. He then stood up from his seat, and sat on the couch. Yuuri covered his eyes with his hands and shook his head. _"This can't be happening…"_

"_What's the matter, heika?" _asked Gunter as he picked up the letter that dropped on the floor. He then read it and was furiously shocked with what the letter states.

_King Yuuri Shibuya of the Demon Tribe,_

_I, King Hedrick Understein of Big Shimaron, declare war over the Great Demon Kingdom. Incase you are wondering, I've written this letter the night after our little signing of Peace Treaty. I have been planning for this just a few days after you offered as a peace treaty. A peace treaty is not enough to settle this all, Big Shimaron wants domination and power over the country of Shin Makoku after 3 days, or else, my army will march towards your country and destroy all of Shin Makoku. You are a big nation, but we are a stronger one, for Big Shimaron does not have a soft-hearted king. _

_Best wishes, to your majesty and his betrothed, you are going to need it._

_King Hedrick Understein_

"_Gwendal, how did this happen? I demand an answer!" _Yuuri punched the wall.

"_I don't know; that's all the answer I can give you, Heika." _Gwendal replied.

Yuuri fell to his knees and hit the floor with his arms, _"Why is this happening? Why do they have to do this? Everything is going fine, why does it have to be like this?" _ He asked to no one in particular.

Gwendal then, knelt beside Yuuri and gripped tightly on Yuuri's shoulders, _"As much as I want to grief with you Heika, we have duties to attend to. So stand up and don't be such a wimp like what my brother accuses you to be." _He then turned to Yozak and asked, _"Where did you find this letter?" _

"_Well, when I was in my way to Big Shimaron to deliver that little invitation for the love bird's wedding, one soldier from Big Shimaron arrived in the gates of The Blood Pledged Castle. He said he was here to deliver some sort of thanksgiving letter for the maou. When he was gone, I decided to open the letter myself before giving it you as I always did. And then the little thanksgiving surprised me as well… I guess we all have three more days to live, if I know the kiddo, he would surrender to Big Shimaron, won't you kiddo?" _ Yozak turned to Yuuri.

"_You read all my private letters before giving them to me?" _Gwendal confronted.

Yozak then raised both his arms and confessed, _"Well, sometimes I do but there more times that I don't." _And then he gave a nervous chuckle.

"_That's none of our concerns Gwendal, now I think we should pay more attention with our next step." _Gunter suggested with a serious tone that he's never used before.

Gwendal then stood up and paused to think. And then finally, he made a decision. He then turned to Yuuri and looked him in the eye, _"I'm sure that you'd disagree with the course of action that I will propose, but I think that this is the best thing do, for Shin Makoku, for everyone."_

"_What is it, Gwendal?" _Gunter asked.

"_I think we should answer to their little surprise. We should declare war as well, your majesty." _Gwendal proposed.

"_But-"was_ Yuuri's reflex reaction.

"_But what, Heika? You will just let your people be slaves of those filthy humans?" _Gwendal's sudden rise of adrenaline surprised Yuuri. Those words gave Yuuri's blood, let's just say, a little boil.

Yuuri stood up and grabbed a hold of Gwendal's uniform. _"Gwendal, haven't we settled that before? No harsh words about humans! Do you want me to 'accidentally' slap you too and be my fiancé? Don't you realize that my mother is one of those 'filthy humans' you are insulting?"_

Gwendal gave Yuuri a chuckle.

"_What are you chuckling about?" _asked Yuuri.

"_If you are this impulsive in protecting your mother's dignity, then why can't you do it for your country? Heika, remember, you have an obligation not only to your family, also, but you have a huge obligation to Shin Makoku. So don't decide for yourself, don't decide with that twisted feelings of yours about a peaceful warfare of yours because that won't help us now. We need our 27__th__ demon king. Shin Makoku needs her Maou now. We need you. So pull yourself together and make your decision before it's too late!" _Gwendal urged.

Those words hit Yuuri big-time. It made him realize something. Yuuri then loosened his grip on Gwendal's uniform, and as what Gwendal said, pulled him self together. _"I've made my decision." _Yuuri gave Gwendal a serious nod.

Gwendal then fixed his uniform and faced Yuuri. _"Yes, your majesty?"_

"_Gwendal, prepare the troops. If King Hedrick wants war, then it's war that he gets." _Yuuri ordered. He sounded determined that let everyone in the room be shed with the little light hope that was peeping from outside the window.

"_Heika…" _Gunter looked unto Yuuri's eyes and saw through it the maou's resolve. Yuuri had finally formed his resolve. His _final _resolve…

"_And what are you looking at, Gunter? You can't just stand there and watch? I'm assigning you with the evacuation of the people around the borders. Cease to it that everyone in the borders will be evacuated near the capital. And I'm putting Shin Makoku under Red Alert! As for you Yozak, I want you to inform Big Shimaron that Shin Makoku is not going to let them be the supreme rulers of this land. And come back safe in one piece. You are still needed here." _Yuuri was determined. He was going to promote peace in this land no matter what it takes.

--

It's been a few hours after the controversial letter arrived, and by now, all of Shin Makoku had found out about the declaration of war. The moment Wolfram found out about Yuuri's sudden decision, he refused to believe that Yuuri would answer war, so he quickly went to the Maou's office to confirm the news.

"_Yes, Wolfram, it's true. We are on war." _Yuuri answered coldly as he signed some papers.

Wolfram was confounded. It's as if he can't believe his own ears, did he just hear Yuuri say that? The blond then went straight to Yuuri and shoved away all the papers above Yuuri's desk to the floor._ "But Yuuri, that's insane! That's not like you! How can you allow this to happen? I thought you said that you don't want war. You said that you would promote a peaceful world and we will all live in tranquility. Humans and Mazoku! That was your dream, right? And back then, you said that you are determined to fulfill that dream and that you will never cease until that pathetic dream of yours is carried out! But are you doing now? Answer me, Yuuri!"_

"_Can you leave us two alone?" _Yuuri asked as he turned to Gunter who was the only one with then inside.

"_Of course, heika," _Gunter then showed obeisance to his maou and left the room.

"_Can you answer me now that we're alone?" _asked Wolfram furiously.

The young Maou then stood up from where he was seated and stood in front of Wolfram. Yuuri then wore off the cold mask that he was wearing and _smiled at him?_

"_It's quite cold, isn't it? Why don't we take a nice hot bath?" _He asked his fiancé, which is very unusual. I mean, it's unusual that Yuuri was the one who asked.

Wolfram just flashed him a confused look.

--

In the huge bath,

"_Don't you think it's very relaxing to have a nice hot bath after along day?" _asked Yuuri.

Wolfram faced Yuuri, _"Yuuri, tell me what's wrong." _

"_Are you asking me what's wrong? Well, what's wrong, is me. I'm wrong… I've tried every conventional way to try and save everyone but look at what happened! I gave my best in searching for the four forbidden boxes, I gave my everything in defeating Shinou, I convinced other human countries to gain alliance with us, and I tried to talked King Hedrick into signing that stupid peace treaty with us, but look at out situation now! No matter what I do, still, nothing happens. And now, were in war! And I promised to everyone that no war will ever happen to Shin Makoku, but look at me now…Look at me now Wolfram. I declared war! I always thought of people declaring wars, or war-freaks or pro-wars as monsters! And now I'm one of them! I'm a monster! I'm a monster Wolfram! A monster…" _Then tears started to flow down from the young maou's innocent eyes.

Wolfram couldn't take it. It was the last thing he wanted to see, to see Yuuri cry. He then tried to comfort Yuuri by caressing the maou's left cheek as he wiped the tears away with his thumb. _"That's not true…Your not a monster. In fact, you're too cute to be a monster. Your more of a…uhh… a…….." _

"_A humungous beast?" _asked Yuuri.

"_No, I compassionate and loving king…Our demon king… That's what you are; you are Yuuri and not anything else, just Yuuri." _Wolfram then combed his hair with his hand then leaned on the edge of the huge bath. _"Let's just relax and enjoy this nice and warm bath."_

"_Thank you, Wolfram." _Yuuri then rested his head on Wolfram's shoulder. _"What would I do with out you…"_

"_Cheat on your fiancé. That's what you'd do when I am not around." _Wolfram replied.

"_I'm not asking you." _Yuuri answered back.

"_You don't need to, because I won't leave you. Although I'm not sure of whether you'd leave me or not…" _ Wolfram thought.

"_I won't. I can't…I'll always be here. I'll always be around, not only for Shin Makoku, but for you too…" _Yuuri then closed his eyes and relaxed leaning on Wolfram.

"_I know, Yuuri, I know." _

---

"_Gunter, give me a status report. How many percent are the chances of us winning this fight?" _Yuuri asked.

"_Well heika, Big Shimaron's army is fast approaching our border. They attack every country that goes in their way to reach Shin Makoku, so I'd guess that they'd be pretty injured and tired the moment they get here so we might have an edge, although, I know they won't come here unprepared, and plus I heard that their army had been training for this for a few months now so they'd be ready, so I guess, if my evaluation is right, we have a 50 chance of wining…" _Gunter answered.

Yuuri thought for a second, and then turned to Gwendal. _"Gwendal, what do you think?" _

"_I don't know your majesty. We are in a 50-50 situation here, King Yuuri. It's quite a fair fight if you'd ask me. There is a huge chance that we can win, but yet there is also a big chance for us to lose. And like what Gunter said, they won't come here unprepared. Perhaps they have some kind of secret weapon installed for us." _Gwendal replied.

"_Is everyone ready?" _Yuuri asked as he turned to Yozak and Conrad.

"_I'll be honest with you, Heika, Shin Makoku is not ready for another war, but we are ready to die just to protect our homeland. Even if it was the last thing we ever do…" _Conrad replied with his deepest resolve.

"_Then I'm coming with you!" _Yuuri said.

"_That's not going to happen, kiddo, you're staying here within the walls of Blood Pledged Castle." _Yozak patted Yuuri's head as if the young maou was a little boy.

"_I can't just stay here! Everyone needs me! I'm not staying here!" _Yuuri insisted.

"_Yuuri, A king marching into war is the most reckless thing I've ever heard! And actually, I think I like a wimp who thinks, than a fearless dumb ox who does not think at all!" _ Wolfram opposed, but well all know Yuuri.

"_No! Say whatever you want but, no ones going to stop me from fighting!" _Yuuri remained persistent.

"_Your majesty, please reassess your decision." _Gunter beseeched.

Yuuri the turned to Gwendal, _"Gwendal, you asked me yesterday that if I was this impulsive when it comes to my mother, then why can't I do it with Shin Makoku? Then let me prove to you that I do love Shin Makoku as much as I love my family! Gwendal, please! Let me go… Let me protect Shin Makoku like a true king!" _ Yuuri begged.

Gwendal just chuckled. _"I never knew that my brother's stubbornness and impetuousness was contagious that even his fiancé, the maou, got contaminated. Well if that's what you want, then I won't stop you, Heika, in one condition…"_

"_What condition?" _He asked.

"_We will all come back alive." _was Gwendal's reply.

Yuuri smiled at Gwendal. _"Of course, Gwendal…"_

"_If Yuuri's coming, then I'm coming as well!" _Wolfram added.

"_Fine then, we need every help that we can get from anyone." _Conrad nodded.

"_Now that everything's settled, let's get it on!" _Yozak said, lifting up their spirits into battle.

--

Right now, Yuuri, Wolfram, Conrad, Gwendal, Gunter, Yozak, and their respective troops are traveling to the end of the borders of Shin Makoku. Only Annisuna and Lady were left in the palace to take care of the kingdom while they were gone. The Von Spitzberg troops, led by Lord Stoffel and his henchman, Raven; some rebels led by Adalbert; and some more troops led by Hube, were heading to the borders to meet with King Yuuri and the others and fight along side with them. Shin Makoku has marches full force into battle and is determined to win against the mighty soldiers of Big Shimaron who threatens to invade their almost peaceful country.

After a few hours, they have reached the town the border between Shin Makoku and the human countries are. They still have a remaining 26 hours to wait until the army of Big Shimaron reaches their camp. Meanwhile, Yuuri and Wolfram is inside the tent reserving their strength for the up coming battle…

"_Yuuri, what are you doing?" _Wolfram asked bizarrely as Yuuri walked around in circles holding some kind of burning leaves.

"_I'm burning maple leafs for good luck…" _Yuuri gave nervous chuckle. _"It's some kind of offering to the gods to bestow us wisdom and strength. It's like what Conrad said, we need all the help that we could get." _Yuuri chuckled again.

Wolfram sighed. _"Yuuri, that's ridiculously, ridiculous!"_

"_What do you mean?" _asked Yuuri naively with another nervous chuckle.

Wolfram emitted another sigh. _"Yuuri, first of all, we don't have gods here. And if ever we have, we don't really worship them, and remember, mazokus worship Shinou, and his not a god! His was just an average mazoku before he defeated Sousho. And you know what? I heard that Shinou was fond of calling everyone nicknames, he practically have nicknames for everyone, but that does not matter now. My point is, Yuuri, relax. Worrying won't help. I know I'm not in the place to say this but Yuuri, you need to show your people that you're strong, don't show them your wimpy side now, or else they'll lose hope. Yuuri, you're our only hope, you're only reason we are confident to march into war like this, because you're here. Shin Makoku would be lost in the darkness if your not here. So show us the demon king, not Yuuri the wimp!"_

"_Wolfram…"_

"_What? I said that wimpy image off!" Wolfram said back._

"_Wolfram, Shin Makoku survived without me or Shinou for four thousand years. The Mazokus can survive without me… You can all win this even without me. Hey, I'm not the one controlling your bodies to move or breath, it's you. So you can live without me as king. And besides, I can't fight the whole army of Big Shimaron alone! I need every single one of you to win. I'm the one who needs you. And besides, __**I would never leave Shin Makoku alone. I will watch over Shin Makoku and protect every mazoku inside or outside the borders of Shin Makoku, like Shinou did, for all eternity…**__" _Yuuri promised.

"_Pretty words Yuuri, too bad they won't happen…" _Wolfram snapped.

"_It will…"_

_--_

"_Everyone, now we are face to face with the invaders… I know that many of us will end up dead after this. You may not be able to see your family and say farewell. And we might even lose, that's the worst case scenario, but let's not let them get what they want so easily! If we die, we die with honor! We die for the welfare of Shin Makoku! Now everyone I thank you for being here, as your king and as your servant, I am very grateful that you are all here. Now, CHARGE!!!!!!!!!" _was Yuuri's last words before they all charged to battle.

It was a fierce battle and thousands have already dropped dead but yet the war had only just begun. Many have been injured but they have to injure it. As for Yuuri,

"_Wolfram, watch out!" _ He said as he dodged the attack for Wolfram and slashed the attacker.

"_I'm not going to thank you for that." _Wolfram said as he slashed another opponent charging at them.

"_Your majesty, are you alright?" _Gunter then ran unto them.

"_We're okay!" _Yuuri replied with a wink.

"_So Gunter, what now?" _asked Yuuri between gasps.

"_I guess we just have to get rid of them all, heika!" _Gunter stabbed another opponent...

Yuuri's face saddened even more. The thought of war already makes Him sad, how much more if it was before his eyes?

'_This is the most tragic scene that I've had ever been to. Seeing all this and being a part of it was what hurts the most. May be it really was a bad idea declaring war in the first place. Why is this happening? Why does all of this have to happen? And I can't even do anything to stop it from happening. Endless killing, blood spilling, and pure hatred, why is this happening? Some people call me the deliverer of justice, the savior of the persecuted, the executioner of the law, but yet I can't do anything to stop this? Am I even worthy to be the maou? What's my purpose here if I will just let everyone die? I'm so useless!' _Yuuri thought as he collapsed but Wolfram was able to catch him.

"_Yuuri, what are you doing? Don't let them catch you off guard! Pull your self together, would you!" _Wolfram bellowed.

"_I'm so sorry…I'm so useless…I'm not worthy to be treated like a king…."_ Yuuri broke down between sobs.

"_Yuuri…not now… You're great king…When you made the decision of declaring wars against your own will you proved that to all of us… Yuuri, you're- watch out!" _Wolfram dodged the attacker from behind Yuuri.

"_Wolfram!"_

Wolfram then clashed sword with the attacker and was al most winning. And then as he charged to the opponent, he accidentally tripped unto a rock and fell down. The opponent took this chance and was charging to Wolfram…

"_WOLFRAM! NO!!!!!!" _

"_Yuuri…" _

**Okay everyone, that's it! The first chapter…**

**Try to make guests of what happens next… and review…**

**Though, I'm warning you, there's going to be a huge twist!!!!!**

**Hahahahahahah!!!**

**Thanks!!!**


	3. Chapter 2: Bittersweet Victory

**Chapter 2: Bittersweet Victory**

Wolfram then clashed sword with the attacker and was almost winning. And then as he charged to the opponent, he accidentally tripped unto a rock and fell down. The opponent took this chance and was charging to Wolfram…

"_WOLFRAM! NO!!!!!!" _

"_Yuuri…" _

_--_

"_WOLFRAM! NO!!!!!!!" _It was the urge of the heart, he had to do it, even it means risking his own life; he was bound do it.

'_Nothing matters now…'_

Everything was moving in slow motion…

It was blood, his blood that he was seeing…He never thought that he had that much blood flowing through his veins. Judging from the amount of blood that fell on the ground, Yuuri knows that he won't be seeing Blood Pledged Castle ever again.

It was numb; he didn't even feel anything painful from that wound on his chest that he took for Wolfram. All he felt was nothing but...fear…confusion…and sadness…but yet there was a little shred of hope left in his heart that urges him to fight for Shin Makoku, for everyone…

"_Yuuri…"_

That moment, when he saw Wolfram's reaction, he knew what he had to do.

'_Well, if this is really it, then I might as well give my everything…'_

Yuuri then pierced his sword, Morgif unto the ground to break his fall. He then stood up and pointed the demon sword towards the opponent, and then he whispered to his companion in combat, _"Morgif, lend me your power. Give me your best shot, just for the last time…" _

And then the sword started roaring, as if assuring Yuuri that he won't disappoint him. Then a bright white light came out from the swords mouth. Yuuri then held firmly and raised it up.

"_Demon Sword Morgif, obey your true master! Lend me your ceaseless powers! Destroy the wicked who tends to bring chaos your homeland!" _Yuuri then let go of the sword and it rose up upon the dark skies.

It emanated a bright and blinding light that hovered over everyone participating in that battle. There was nothing but light to see… nothing more…

--

Then after sometime, the bright light started to fade and it revealed to them dead bodies, and not just dead bodies, dead bodies of Big Shimaron soldiers! If not dead some are in coma, there was not a single one in Big Shimaron's army who was left unconscious. Everyone was amazed, no astonished by what that little sword was capable of doing that flabbergasting phenomena.

And then the Demon Sword started to descend down. Yuuri caught it by the hand. _"Good work, Morgif. Thank you…"_

"_Free cheers for his majesty and Morgif! Hip, hip, Hurray!!! Hip, hip, hurray!!!" _one soldier cheered, and the rest followed. Yuuri smiled at this.

"_Yuuri, we won, that's all because of you…" _Wolfram said with relieved smile.

"_Not really, we did it with Morgif's help!" _Yuuri replied with a weak smile.

"_Yuuri, what's-" _Wolfram was too overjoyed that he almost forgot about Yuuri's injury.

Then the maou suddenly winced with pain as he collapsed on Wolfram.

"_Yuuri! Yuuri! Yuuri, no! Please Yuuri…not now… it's going to be okay…We've won! Everything's going to be fine now! Please Yuuri, not now…" _Wolfram shook Yuuri but there was no response. Conrad and the others heard Wolfram and they hurried down to where the two was.

"_Wolfram, what-" _Conrad was ceased by how much blood Yuuri had on his shirt.

Yuuri then raised his hand full of blood and stared at it. His sight was getting blurry. _"Everything's going to be fine now…Now I can leave Shin Makoku peacefully on your hands…"_

"_Don't say that Yuuri!" _Wolfram refused.

"_Oh come on...let's not pretend that life's a fairytale… You know what, Wolfram, I'm scared...I'm scared to die, but yet I can't do anything to stop my blood from flowing…If only I could stop time but I can't, so…" _Tears started to flow down Yuuri's cheeks.

"_Yuuri, please…" _And then Wolfram started to cry.

"_So you need to promise me something… Promise me that after this day, you will never cry for me again…" _Yuuri then held Wolfram's hand firmly, as if his never going to let go.

"_Yuuri…" _

"_Wol-fram…" _Yuuri then started to cough with blood.

"_Your majesty, hold on a little longer. Gunter is now calling for Gisela. They'll be here right away." _Conrad said, holding Yuuri's other hand.

"_Thank you, Conrad, for everything, thanks for the name and the love. You were like an older brother to me. And to you too Gwendal, even though it's only a once in a lifetime opportunity that you smile back at me, you are still a huge part of my life. And where's Gunter?" _Yuuri asked.

"_I'm here heika, but please avoid movements…" _Gunter said, approaching Yuuri as he stopped his tears from falling.

"_Thanks a lot, Gunter; I wouldn't be the king I am now if not because of you. And as for Yozak, avoid wearing those, Ms. Biceps outfit; it doesn't suit you that well. And as for Adalbert, you are always welcome in Shin Makoku whenever you're ready to turn back, even though I'm gone…" _Yuuri smiled again.

"_Yuuri, don't be such a wimp!" _Wolfram shouted at Yuuri.

"_I'm not deaf, you know… Wolfram… Just relax; being impulsive won't get you anywhere. And try to control that temper of yours…But you know what, I've always liked the way you are. You never fail to convince me that you are worth it all… Thank you, for always knocking in some sense into me. And catching a wimp like me, whenever I fall….I'm so sorry, Wolfram….I don't think I'll be around for our wedding anymore,sobs… but remember this…coughs…. I will always be with you, be-cause I, - I-"Then_ Yuuri coughed even harder.

"_Yuuri please, don't…" _Wolfram said as he sobbed.

Yuuri just smiled. He then caressed Wolfram's face with his bloody hands and wiped away the blond's tears. _"I'm so sorry, Wolfram…I-, I- lo-………." _Then one last tear escaped from Yuuri eyes as he closed, it permanently. His hold unto Wolfram's hand loosened.

"_Yuuri. Yuuri, no!!" _And now there's no more stopping it, Wolfram started to cry.

"_Your majesty, it can't be! Your majesty! Heika! Heika!" _Gunter cried.

"_Yuuri-heika, are you really this much of a weakling?" _Gwendal tried to hide his true emotions through his cold voice, but he can't. He then genuflected and bowed his head to his king.

"_Yuuri…" _Conrad crunched his fingers into fists. _"Why now? Yuuri…"_

"_Kiddo…I never knew that you were the heroic type of king…" _Yozak tried to joke but it was no use. He then tapped Conrad's shoulders.

Then every soldier in the battle field started to bowing, some even cried, but that won't do anything to bring back their king…

--

They then placed Yuuri's lifeless body into a stretcher and into the carriage to be brought home to Shin Makoku. It was Conrad and Yozak who did it. Well, they were the only ones who could hold back their emotions once they touch Yuuri.

--

Before the victorious soldiers even got back to Shin Makoku, the news of victory had already got there. Everyone rejoiced, without knowing of the price in exchange of that victory. Every citizens of Shin Makoku gathered in front of Blood Pledged Castle to welcome back, their king, their savior…

As the carriage stopped in front of the castle, it was Greta who first ran to the carriage and opened the door.

"_You're back! I missed you all!!" _She smiled at them. _"Wait, where's Yuuri? I've been waiting for him to show him this knew panda bear I knitted! Where is he? Is he in the other carriage?" _She asked innocently. The little princess then ran unto the next carriage, she opened the door and was shocked to see a stretcher with body covered inside.

"_Conrad, Yozak, where's Yuuri? And what's this?" _She asked them but there was no response.

"_Excuse me, princess." _Yozak said. Greta then made a few steps back to give way.

And then the two made their way with the stretcher, out of the horse and carriage.

"_What had happened? Who is this?" _asked Lady Celli. But Conrad just looked away and didn't answer to his mother.

Lady Celli then, bit her lip as she slowly removed the white cloth above the body. As she saw the person who was lying dead in the stretcher, she started to cry. _"King Yuuri! Why did this happen?" _

Everyone was surprised, or should I say, terrified by the news. _"His majesty has died! What will happen to us now?!" _one shouted.

"_Yuuri? Is Yuuri really dead?" _the princess started sobbing.

"_I'm so sorry Greta…" _Wolfram embraced Greta. It was the only thing he could do now, to make their daughter feel that she is not alone.

--

And now the moment has come. It was the last day of Yuuri's funeral.

'_Wow, I never knew that there would be this much people when I die. Hey, that's Shori! And there's mom and dad and, hey it's Murata! And all of Shin Makoku is here too! Hey, wait a minute, how did my family get here? Well, that doesn't matter now, does it?'_

'_Hmm… Wow, staring at my own dead body is pretty weird… And wow, I didn't know that I look nice in a glass coffin… And I know I've always dreamed of lying in a bed roses but right now, I'm seeing myself lying in a bed of lilies, casket of lilies, actually… And what's with the black outfit again? I've always worn that since the day I first arrived in Shin Makoku. sigh Oh come on! What am I doing holding Morgif even after my death come on, people! Are they seriously going to bury me with Morgif? But hey, I look very kingly holding Morgif that way. And I never knew I looked this peaceful when I'm asleep… but I'm not asleep, I'm a dead man with my body displayed outside my castle for everyone to see me for the last time…'_

Then people close to him started falling in line and each one of them get' to give him their final message, in their minds of course.

It was Greta who went first followed by, Yozak, Adalbert, Lord Stoffel, Raven, Lady Flurin, Alford, Lady Celli, Annisuna, Gisela, Elizabeth, Geigenhuber and his family, Gunter, Gwendal, Great Sage Murata, Ulrike whose first time it was to get out of the Shinou temple for 800 years, Yuuri's mother Miko Shibuya, his father Shoma, his brother Shori, Conrad, and last was Wolfram.

"_Yuuri, why did you leave me and Wolfram?" _was what Greta said.

"_Hey kiddo, I hope you're in some place good now…enjoy your after life…" _was Yozak's last words.

"_Heika, I never even got the chance to get close to you, but I guess this is goodbye…King Yuuri."_ said Lord Stoffel as he his fingers trailed through Yuuri's coffin.

"_Your majesty, please forgive my master for everything that he has done wrong against you…" _said Raven.

"_Oh King Yuuri, I know you're in a better place now, don't worry, I will do my best to keep the alliance between Caloria and Shin Makoku as strong as ever…" _Lady Flurin cried.

"_Why did you die this soon, demon king? We didn't even have the chance for our rematch between my Holy Sword and your Demon Sword. What's worse is that you even took Morgif with you to the grave, literally…but may be someday, when I get to where you are now, we can have our rematch, but for now, I guess its goodbye…" _Alford said.

"_Oh your majesty…You are a really great king. Even after what had happened to Shin Makoku after my reign, you were able to full Shin Makoku up to its former glory, even greater. Your death has hurt my son very deeply, King Yuuri, what to do now?" _Lady Celli asked.

"_Oh heika, I didn't get to do an experiment with you. It was such a waste; you had so much maryoku in you…" _Annisuna said.

"_Heika, I thought you would never leave onii-chan's side but what are you doing in that glass coffin now?" _Elizabeth said as she dropped a red rose on the glass coffin.

"_Your majesty, if it wasn't for you, none of this would have happened… I wouldn't be together with my wife and daughter now…Thank you…" _Geigenhuber smiled the, technically we can call him corpse right?

"_Heika, heika, heika…I'm going to miss you heika, how are we going to live our lives with out you, Yuuri-heika!!! Oh heika…" _Gunter cried.

"_Leaving Shin Makoku this soon? That's pathetic…But you've done your share, actually, you've done more than that, King Yuuri. You've shone us light when we were living in darkness… Don't worry; Shin Makoku will be in good hands…" _Gwendal whispered.

"_Shibuya, I don't know if Shinou orchestrated this or not, but I'm sure that everything will be alright…as long as I am here Shin Makoku is safe. But it would have been better if you were here…You know what, you changed my mind… Shin Makoku, does need two suns, the other is the substitute to the other one…Nah...That would be really stupid…" _The Great Sage said with a false chuckle.

"_Oh your majesty, I'm so happy to bet out of the Shinou temple again, but it hurts to see you in that glass coffin. I would prefer to get out of the temple because of another reason, not like this. Yuuri-heika, may Shinou-heika guide you in your path to the next life…" _Ulrike offered a prayer.

"_Yuu-chan… I feel so terrible… I wasn't even around with you at your final moments…I should have been there to sing you lullaby… I should have been with you…" _Miko cried.

"_Why this soon, Yuu-chan? I never thought that I'd never thought that this day would ever come, the day when I get to see you inside your coffin. I've always thought that I would die sooner than you will, but look at the situation now, Yuu-chan… And I never thought that you had this much courage in you to declare a war… I knew that you had guts but not this much…but the bottom-line is, you did well, son…You saved everyone…" _Shoma smiled.

"_Yuu-chan I was not able to protect you! I'm so sorry… Oh Yuu-chan….Your Onii-chan is such a _

_Despicable person; he can't even protect his own little brother! I'm so sorry Yuu-chan…" _Tears started to flow down from Shori's eyes

"_Yuuri…Heika… I don't deserve to live…I failed to fulfill my duty to protect you, not only to Shin Makoku, but also my duty to my heart, your majesty…I can't assure you that there will never be another war after all this, but I am certain that I will never let any catastrophe befall Shin Makoku, Shin Makoku will rise again after this tragic downfall… No matter what happens, even after a new demon king arises, my loyalty is only to you, Yuuri…" _Conrad held his right hand on his chest and bowed his head.

And last,

"_Oh Yuuri!!!" _Wolfram kneeled in front of the glass coffin and cried.

"_You're such a wimp! You're the wimpiest person I've ever met!" _Wolfram yelled to the dead body…

"_You're a liar! Promising something that you won't fulfill! What do you call yourself?" _Wolfram cried even harder.

And as for Yuuri seeing all this; he would rather be dead…well he is dead, but yet he can't escape from the pain striking through his heart. He couldn't bear to see everyone like this, especially, Wolfram.

'_Wolfram… What are you crying about? I'm here, I'm always here… Wolfram I'm here!' _Yuuri then tried to hold Wolfram's hand but it just went through! He was dead after all, of course that would go through!

'_Wolfram! Stop it! Didn't you promise me that you will never cry for me ever again! Then what are you doing now? Wolfram.Why are you making me suffer like this? I can't stand seeing you like this…Wolfram, if only I could turn back time, I will change everything that had happened but I can't …' _Yuuri cried together with Wolfram but the blond didn't even have any idea that he was there.

Then the young king felt someone touch his shoulder, _"It's time to go, Yuuri…" _

'_What?'_

Before he could even turn to see the mysterious man, everything disappeared. Or was it him who disappeared?

"_Don't worry, 27__th__ maou, everything's going to go just fine…" _

_--_

* * *

**_Okay! that's chap 2! Ha-ha! I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who read, and reviewed! And also to those who added this story totheir "story alert", thanks for your appreciation! _**

**_Anyways, please continue to read and review! And of course, in your review, please try to guess of the next events...I just want to know if I'm that predictable or not..._**

**_Thanks again!_**


	4. Chapter 3: True to a promise

**Chapter 3: True to a Promise**

Then the young king felt someone touch his shoulder, _"It's time to go, Yuuri…" _

'_What?'_

Before he could even turn to see the mysterious man, everything disappeared. Or was it him who disappeared?

"_Don't worry, 27__th__ maou, everything's going to be just fine…" _

--

'_So this is how it feels like to be dead… I never knew that it could be so peaceful and relaxing, and, and so…wow… I've never felt this good before…It's as if I'm in heaven…oh wait, may be I am in heaven? But it's weird though, I can't see anything but…white?'_

"_Try opening your eyes, may be you'd see some things other than white…" _someone said, sarcastically.

"_Huh?" _Yuuri then tried to open his eyes and to his surprise, the person who was playing, '_Mr. Sarcasm' _here is none other than….

"_Shi-Shinou-heika??????????" _Yuuri was almost speechless. This guy is supposed to be dead, not only dead; this guy is supposed to be gone!

"_I'm glad you remember me, baseball kid…" _He smirked.

--

"_Yo-you- you can't be here?" _Yuuri was now having difficulty breathing, which was really weird considering that he's already dead.

"_Why can't I be here? This is my sanctuary. I've planned for this for four thousand years. I made this dimension totally separated from my and your world. I built this for myself so that I can have somewhere to stay when you defeat me…" _Shinou replied casually.

'_I never knew this guy could be so casual.' _Yuuri thought.

"_Casual huh? And oh don't be surprised if I can read into your thoughts and feelings, this is my sanctuary after all, I have complete control of everything here, even you." _Shinou smirked again.

"_But how? Why?" _was all Yuuri, could ask,

"_Well let me explain… A soul could never die nor be destroyed, it can only transform, just like that law of conservation of energy subject matter that you study in school, so you can't have killed me that time, because I'm already dead; you just defeated me. But like what you already know, I've orchestrated every necessary event in your lives in order for all of my plans to come to fulfillment, so since I already know what was to happen, I got prepared." _He explained.

"_Okay, so this is your sanctuary, then what am I doing here?" _Yuuri asked.

"_Good question. Well Yuuri-heika, it's like this… everyone on the world of the living give promises, right? And when you promise, you should live up to it, right? We, demon kings are no exceptions… In fact we are obliged to fulfill __**every promise that we make…**__ but then all of us die as well, and with us dying, there are some promises that we miss to fulfill, and that's why you're here…" _Shinou made clear. _"Hmmm…so may I ask you, before you died, did you make any promise to anyone that you were not able to accomplish?" _Shinou asked, as if reminding Yuuri of something…

Yuuri was drawn deep in thought. And then he remembered something, _"Wolfram, Shin Makoku survived without me or Shinou for four thousand years. The Mazokus can survive without me… You can all win this even without me. Hey, I'm not the one controlling your bodies to move or breath, it's you. So you can live without me as king. And besides, I can't fight the whole army of Big Shimaron alone! I need every single one of you to win. I'm the one who needs you. And besides, __**I would never leave Shin Makoku alone. I will watch over Shin Makoku and protect every mazoku inside or outside the borders of Shin Makoku, like Shinou did, for all eternity…**__"_

"_**For all eternity…"**_

"_**For all eternity…"**_

"_**For all eternity…"**_

"_**All Eternity…"**_

"_**Eternity…"**_

"_Oh no…" _Yuuri realized what was happening is a very serious matter. _"Shinou, do you mean to say that…"_

"_Yup! You will be watching Shin Makoku for all eternity. In other words, no eternal peace, no rest, and waiting like this until the world ends! But don't worry, I'll be with you, I also made a fatal mistake as what you did… I never knew that it would end up like this, well actually I did, but I wouldn't have guessed that you'd end up here too…" _Shinou smiled again.

"_Wait, so you mean will be here forever? But that's just stupid! We won't even be able to watch over Shin Makoku from here!" _Yuuri exclaimed.

"_Oh but we won't be staying here…" _He smirked, again! How can someone smirk so…so….

Shinou then grabbed Yuuri's hand and dragged Yuuri into an open portal. _"Whoaahhhhaaa!!!"_

"_Hey you can't just drag people into portals without informing them! That's just- …..Amazing…." _Yuuri was surprised. He was back, back in Shin Makoku. And right now, he was facing a huge monument of himself! Although in this statue his striking a dramatic pose while holding Morgif, now that's pretty, I know…weird? And what's with the fountains and the water lilies? What am I, a girl? This doesn't even look like a shrine to me, its more of a, uh… garden?

"_Always remember Yuuri, don't underestimate Shinou. That's a warning." _Shinou huffed. This guy actually huffed. _"Now, incase you don't know where we are, we are in Blood Pledged Castle. I know, I know, you think it's not because you don't have any huge statues like this before, but you know, many things can change after one year."_

"_Okay, I understand. Wait, wait, wait…What? A year? But-but but that's not possible, I mean I just- I, uh, it's been a year since I died?" _Yuuri asked dumbfounded.

"_No not really, what I meant was, it's only been a year since they built this monument. Actually, you've been dead for a year and 5 months now. The new maou had this built in honor of your great love and devotion for Shin Makoku." _Shinou explained.

"_Wait, but how? I don't remember anything about waiting for a year or something like that, did I? And I-uh, the last thing I remember was…was….I was in my funeral, I was watching everyone as they bid me farewell, and then suddenly, someone-wait! That was you, wasn't it? You're that man who…was….but why? You say it's been a year ago, but how?" _Yuuri asked. It's was obvious that he was confused.

"_Whoa! Slow down kid! One questions at a time, I'm Shinou not God!" _The man replied.

He sighed. _"It's like this. I took you from your funeral because it takes time to reform a soul. You have to reform your soul, why? Because your soul has been damaged, by what? Your negative emotions like, sufferings, hatred, sorrow, etc…so you have to reform to a wandering soul since you're going to wander, for all eternity. Yours took a year, that's pretty long…Mine only took a few weeks. That's because you are a reincarnated soul. All the sufferings that your soul had gotten through those lives that you had left a scar, so you have to somehow, recreate it, it's kind of a natural phenomena so you can't stop it, or delay it…" _

"_Oh…that's a relief, I thought I was in some kind of trance or something like that…._" Yuuri sighed with relief.

"_Okay then, let's proceed…" _Shinou then dragged Yuuri into another portal.

--

"_Where are we now?" _asked Yuuri as he got out of the portal.

"_Why don't try to look around?" _suggested Shinou, sarcastically.

Yuuri then looked around. This atmosphere was kind of new to him. It's so peaceful, calming actually… And that smell, the aroma of fresh lilies breath within the walls of the huge room. And he noticed that they are standing in a red carpet leading to a…glass coffin?

"_What's that in thing in the middle of the room?" _Yuuri asked.

"_Try seeing it for yourself."_ Was all Shinou's answer…

Yuuri, anticipated with what was there to see, walked up slowly to the glass coffin. As he went closer to the coffin, his steps became faster, as if he had no control over them.

The young ex-maou then bit his lip with his eagerness overwhelming him. He then closed his eyes as he was 3 steps away from the coffin.

He stopped. His heart was almost pounding out of his chest with anxiousness.

He gently opened his eyes and peeped inside the coffin. _"Oh my god…"_

"_Is this true? Or are my eyes just fooling me?" _was all Yuuri could say as he saw himself inside the coffin! It was his body lying in the coffin!

"_So they preserved my body…"_

"_You know what? You don't look so much of a dead person in that coffin if you'd ask me. And what's with the lilies? Though I got to admit, you do look good in lilies… And Morgif seems to have weakened without the maou holding him. Just look at him, he looks even worse than what he looked like when you were handling him." _Shinou meant it as a joke, but I guess a four thousand year old king is not good with jokes…

Then Yuuri remembered something. _"Wait, why is the demon sword here? Isn't the new maou using him? And who's this new maou?"_

"_Shin Makoku needed a new ruler, and with you not having any successor, they decided to host a contest." _Shinou replied.

"_A contest? What kind of contest?" _Yuuri asked.

"_Actually, it's an all-around contest. The theme of the contest is whether you are Yuuri-like or not. You know, the whole, peace-loving king, powerful maou, and kind-hearted sovereign, the typical you… And only one person was able to comply with their requirements." _Shinou answered.

"_And who is that?" _Yuuri was curious. Not that he thinks that high of himself but, who exactly is this person who replaced him as maou?

"_Andrei Ne'voucce. One of the sons of a noble man here in Shin Makoku. Although his family is not a member of the ten aristocrats, they are one of the most powerful families here in Shin Makoku. And you know what, his also a double black…" _Shinou explained.

"_A double black? Then why is he not recognized or something like that?" _Yuuri asked again.

"_Because, baseball kid….He is not one of the royal bloods. That's the kind of discrimination here in Shin Makoku even before you arrived here. That's just how things go…so don't ask why, I'm tired of answering every whim you have!" _Retorted.

Yuuri just sighed. _"Fine then I won't ask you anything, nor am I going to say a word. But at least tell me what's been happening here in Shin Makoku. How is everyone doing?" _Yuuri asked.

"_Fine with me, in fact, I'll just show it to you..." _Shinou smirked again!

"_Huh? What?" _Before Yuuri can get any answer, he found himself inside his old office.

--

"_Wait this is my-" _

"_Your office, yes. And that is the new Maou. The 28__th__ Demon king of Shin Makoku, King Andrei Ne'voucce, doing paper works and actually enjoyed it…" _Shinou pointed at the young man sitting in his desk, signing some papers.

Yuuri was, surprised. This guy was too good to be true. He had a long black hair with black eyes. This guy looked so majestic and intelligent. And he looks strong judging from his built. And his gentle face… as if he was an angel that fell from heaven. And he looks kind of like the great sage. (Not Ken Murata, the real Great Sage) Yuuri couldn't keep his eyes off him even for a second.

Then someone knocked on the door. _"Can I come in, Andrei-heika?" _The man asked.

The maou smiled. _"Of course, Gunter…"_

Yuuri's heart bitted faster again.

"_Here is your tea, heika…" _Gunter then placed the teacup on Andrei's table.

"_Shinou, we're ghosts right? So they can't see us, right?" _Yuuri asked.

"_Close enough… Now, let me update you with the recent events…Well after you died, Big Shimaron asked for a ceasefire, since they lost battalions of troops. And when Andrei became Maou, he forced them into alleging to Shin Makoku, and a peace treaty was signed and this time it's for good. As for Gunter here, well he got over with the whole, Yuuri-obsession thing with the help of the new maou, without obsessing with Andrei, of course." _Shinou retaliated

"_That's good… I'm telling you, Andrei is lucky. Gunter's obsession could get a little out of hand…" _Yuuri said, a little disappointed with the fact that he was never going to experience Gunter's tender loving care ever again.

"_So you miss it, right?" _Shinou supposed.

Yuuri did not answer.

And then another man knocked unto the door. _"May I come in, sire?" _

The man's voice was familiar as well. As the man entered the room, Yuuri shivered. It was Gwendal.

"_So, how's the paper works, heika? Have you signed them all?" _Gwendal asked.

"_Well not all of them…" _Andrei snorted. _"There's just this one thing that I can't decide on. It's whether I am going to sign this proposal for the renovation of Blood Pledged Castle. It says here that because of the monument we built for King Yuuri, we had no more space for the other troops to train. So the letter suggests that we expand the Castle's territory. But that would cost too much. And I think we should reserve the funding for our industrial project in Shin Makoku. So what do you think? Should I reject this or not?" _Andrei asked.

Yuuri was impressed. This guy really has the brains. If it was him, he would have signed that proposal without even reading it.

"_I agree with you, Andrei-heika." _Gwendal was actually, pleased?

"_Thanks, Gwendal." _Andrei then stamped it with a REJECT!

"_Well, Gwendal here was also very much upset when you died but he has to stay strong. He is regent to the throne after all. Until they haven't found a maou yet, he will sit as the maou and take on your responsibilities. That's why when Andrei here, was crowned Demon King, Gwendal was relieved. Right now, he's still obsessed with knitting, but his skills have improved a little. Take a look at that stuffed sand bear there. He made that himself." _Shinou then pointed at the stuffed animal sitting at the couch. It really looked normal for the first time, considering the fact that Gwendal knitted it.

"_Now then let's get going…" _Shinou then pushed Yuuri into another portal.

--

"_So, where are we now?" _asked Yuuri.

"_We're in the castle gardens, where else? And there is Lord Weller playing catch with Dorcas, now that's so sweet…" _Shinou forced a laugh out.

Yuuri then turned to the two men playing catch. It somehow reminds him of the times when Conrad and himself would play catch.

Yuuri saw the smile in Conrad's face. It was the smile of being content. Complete. It was not the smile that the man use to give him, but it was genuine. He can clearly say that Conrad is happy, even without him.

"_You see Yuuri, 'Mr. Enticing Eyes' here, was very much saddened by your death, but then he found himself a new baseball pal. Yozak was too much of the strong person for playing catch. The first time Conrad tried to teach him how to play, he broke 5 glass windows, 4 statues, 10 wooden antique furniture, and one baseball bat, everyday." _Shinou laughed. _"I guess Mr. enticing eyes got tired and lost his huge patience that's why he sticks with Dorcas."_

"_That's good."_

--

"_Well, look around you…Do you recognize this place?" _

"_Oh no…" _Yuuri trembled. Could it be, are they really in, _"Annisuna's laboratory??????"_

"_Correct. I'm impressed that you recognized this place even though they've made some little renovations..." _Shinou mused.

"_Little renovations??? That's stupid! Just look that this place. It's gone from little laboratory to Humongous Facility!!! There's so many equipments, an-and, and so many inventions!!!! Scary inventions!!! This is beyond of what I would have imagined!!!" _It was true. This laboratory was a hundred times bigger than it use to be. If it wasn't for those weird looking, gigantic inventions, he wouldn't have recognized it.

"_So, then let's continue. This is Annisuna's Laboratory. I know, I know, it looks different and much, much bigger. You see, Andrei noticed that Annisuna's inventions will be a big help to the country's economical rise, so he gave Annisuna her desired funding and renovated her lab, so that she could create more gadgets and stuffs. And believe it or not, her inventions worked pretty well lately. Her _Make-me-some-harvest-kun _was a huge benefit to the farmers here in Shin Makoku. It only requires a small amount of maryoku and even little kids could use it. I can clearly say that this was Annisuna's break through." _The Original king laughed.

"_What's so funny?" _Yuuri asked back.

"_I just remembered something. Come, I want to show you one of Annisuna's new inventions." _Shinou then pulled Yuuri.

--

"_What's this huge door for?" _Yuuri asked as he came face with an oversize door after walking a few meters with Shinou.

Shinou then opened the door.

"_Hey that's…" _

The revealed the most unusual scene that Yuuri never expected to see. _"Annisuna? Murata? And what's that metal-looking thing?"_

"_Well Annisuna forced Mr. Know-it-all into testing her new invention, the _Yuuri-bot!_" _Shinou replied.

"_The Yuuri, what?" _The maou asked confusedly.

"_The Yuuri-bot! It is a robot that she made in your memory. She programmed it to make people happy. And when I say 'happy' I mean make people laugh." _

"_So she made me look like a clown?" _

"_Oh come on kid, she even made it look like you…show some appreciation." _Shinou laughed out loud.

"_It's not funny!!!" _Yuuri snapped. But we can't really blame Yuuri. The robot looked silly! It's wearing a frilly doll dress and walks like an idiot.

"_So Lady Von Karbelnikoff, what are you waiting for? Impress me." _Murata said, as if trying to provoke Annisuna.

"_Of course Geika," _She then started the engine and the robot started to talk.

"_Good morning Murata! What do you call a fly with no wings? A walk._

_Why was the Tomato blushing? Because he saw the salad dressing. _

_How do you catch a squirrel? Climb into a tree and act like a nut. _

_Why didn't the skeleton cross the road? Because he didn't have the guts to do it. _

_Why didn't the __chicken__ cross the road? Because he was too chicken. _

_What do John the Baptist & Winnie the Pooh have in common? Their middle name. _

_Why are there so many Smiths in the phone book? They all have phones. _

_Why don't cannibals eat comedians? Because they taste funny. _

_"Waiter! This coffee tastes like mud." "Yes sir, it's fresh ground." _

_How do you catch a unique rabbit? U Neaq up on it. _

_Two sausages are in a pan. One looks at the other and says "Gee, it's hot in here." and the other __sausage__ says "OH MY GOODNESS IT'S A TALKING SAUSAGE!" _

_What do you call a sleepwalking nun? Roamin' Catholic. _

_What is the last thing that goes through a bug's mind as it hits a windshield? His butt. _

_What's the difference between a __mosquito__ and a fly? A mosquito can fly, but a fly can't mosquito." _The Yuuri–bot blabbed non-stop.

"_And when I thought that things couldn't get any worse, this is stupid! That robot is the ugliest-looking thing I've ever seen! And those jokes are so darn lame!!! I'd rather die than hear it!" _Yuuri covered his ears with embarrassment.

And then Murata started to laugh. _"This is a great invention Annisuna-san! Even though it looks quite funny, and attempts to make people happy, I think it's great. " _Then tears started to fall from Murata's eyes. _"It really does remind me of Shibuya, a lot." _He said as he wiped his tears away.

"_Murata…"_

"_It makes people happy, and reminds them to stay happy, like he always did…" _Murata the stood up from where he was sitting and shook Annisuna's hand. _"Thank you, Annisuna-san…"_

"_I am honored, Geika." _Annisuna replied.

Yuuri was touched. He never knew that his friends really missed him that much. It wasn't fair. He didn't feel even a little grief in those times that they miss him. Here he was excited to see them all again like nothing happened, having been awaken from his long sleep. He didn't even feel the sorrow of having to loose some one who was very dear to them for a year now. It was unfair. How come his the only one who didn't suffer for more than a year, why?

"_It's time to get going Yuuri. We've got many things to attend to." _Shinou then closed the door to the room.

--

"_Now, give me a guess, where are we?" _Shinou tried to cheer up Yuuri.

"_Hmm…" _Yuuri thought for a second. _"Aha! The Castle infirmary!" _

"_Correct! And do you recognize those people over there?" _Shinou turned to Gisela who was teaching Adalbert how to bandage a wound that hit the arteries.

"_It's… It's…Adalbert! And Gisela! What are they doing?" _Yuuri asked.

"_As you can see, Gisela is training Adalbert into being a medical mazoku. It all started the day after your funeral. Adalbert realized that if only someone in those troops were a good healer, you would have been saved. But there wasn't any Mazoku healer in those people. All of the medical mazokus are in the camp, so it took Gunter some time to call for Gisela. And that's why you died. That's why Adalbert decided to be a medical mazoku like Suzannah Julia did, and asked Gisela to train him personally." _Shinou sighed. _"You know some thing, while your soul was till in the process of reformation; I always roam around here in Shin Makoku and the biggest controversy that had been circling around here in the Castle is… The engagement of Von Grantz to Gunter's daughter." _Shinou simpered.

"_What? But that's impossible!!!" _Yuuri was beyond surprised with the news.

"_Oh but it is, baseball kid. The scary healer and beef cake here are getting married, believe it or not." _The Original king said in reply.

"_But how? How did they-?" _Yuuri made a defeated sigh. _"Okay, okay, it's been more than a year so I guess many things changed."_

"_Very good, you understand… Now…Who else did I miss...hmmm…" _Shinou asked himself. _"Well I guess that's it, I've shown you how everyone is doing, so now may be we can head back to my sanctuary and take a little rest. I'm telling you; eternity is quite a long period of waiting…It would be tiring…"_

"_Wait a minute, you haven't shown me everyone yet. How about Lady Celli, Hube and his family, Lady Flurin, Greta, and-"_

"_Well you see, since you died, Lady Celli has been taking Greta with her on her trip to pursue free love so that she won't be depressed here. Right now, their in the Von Spitzberg territory, and as surprising as Gisela and Adalbert's engagement, Stoffel is growing quite fond of your daughter. As for Hube, Nicola, and their daughter, they're doing okay, living in peace. And Lady Flurin is alright, she's kept her promise to keep Shin Makoku and Caloria's bond as strong as ever, well may be not as strong as before, because she's really not in good terms with Andrei for some reasons but their fine. They're all fine. It's just that I can't transport us outside the borders of the capital. You see, since you defeated me, my powers have grown weaker so I can only transport us in places with short distance. So we might as well go then, I need some nap from all those portal things, it really tires me out a bit…" _Shinou yawned.

"_What about…Wolfram? I'm sure that his not somewhere far from here. I know he won't leave this place. I can feel him, he's here in Blood Pledged Castle, but I can't put a finger on where, but I know his near! Take me to him! Take me to Wolfram!" _Yuuri demanded.

"_You know what, besides the great sage, you were the only one who ever dared to yell at me that way… And that's why I like you kid…" _

Shinou released a defeated sigh. _"You know what? I was afraid that you were going to ask that…"_

Yuuri flashed Shinou a confused look.

"_Well, baseball kid, you asked for it. Don't blame me when you regret asking for it…" _Shinou then opened the nearest door to them and transformed it into a portal.

"_Good luck…"_

--

**Now that's it! Chapter 3!!! Hahahaha!**

**Wow, It took me sometime to finish this one!**

**So tell me, was it okay?**

**Well, please review… and make guesses on the next events, thanks…**


	5. Chapter 4: The dark shadow

**Chapter 4: The dark shadow of the great king**

Shinou released a defeated sigh. _"You know what? I was afraid that you were going to ask that…"_

Yuuri flashed Shinou a confused look.

"_Well, baseball kid, you asked for it. Don't blame me when you regret asking for it…" _Shinou then opened the nearest door to them and transformed it into a portal.

"_Good luck…"_

--

A ray of bright light dazzled Yuuri. He was nervous. What had happened to Wolfram? Is he alright? Those were the questions that pondered unto Yuuri's mind.

This was it. The strong ray of light was slowly deteriorating. And then… An unexpected scenario placed him into a state they call…bamboozle-ness?

Yes. His thoughts were right… It was what he least expected to see. He never thought that Shinou can make a very fatal mistake as such…. The portal led them to the….

Girl's Bathroom.

"_Shinou, what's all this about? Do you mean to say that Wolfram is now bathing in the Girl's Bathroom?" _Yuuri was some how, exasperated.

There he was so anticipative of what happened to his fiancé and then the so-called 'The Great One' here, and his damn portal leads him to the girl's bathroom.

"_Well that was stupid." _Shinou slapped his forehead. _"Tsk…tsk…tsk… This must be the effect of constant usage of my so-little-power to create portals. As what I've told you Yuuri, my powers have grown weaker, I'm telling you, even the 26__th__ maou is much stronger than me now." _

'_So that's why he created that so-called sanctuary of his ahead of time. It's because he knew that this was going to happen. And I'm the cause of it…' _Yuuri thought. Instead of exasperation, all he felt for the once greatest and most powerful mazoku living was sympathy.

Shinou sighed. _"I guess we will just have to walk… We better get out of here…"_

Shinou then passed THROUGH the door. Yuuri paused. Now that was new. But hell, he's a ghost!

"_Hey wait! Shinou-" _

"_What?" _Shinou snapped as his head went back through wall to see Yuuri.

"_How did you do that? I mean, I know you're a ghost and I am one too but, how do you do that? Do you say some kind of chant before you go through or something like that?" _Yuuri asked.

"_You just have to go through like walking in the moonlight. It's chicken feed!" _Shinou replied as his head went back through the wall.

Yuuri sighed. _"Well, I guess it won't hurt trying. I'm a ghost after all." _

Yuuri then closed his eyes and walked straight unto the wall. And he actually went through!!!

Yuuri sighed with relief.

"_I told you its easy!" _Shinou winked.

"_Now come on and take me to Wolfram!" _Yuuri demanded.

--

After a few steps, the two reached a certain room.

"_Now, do you recognize this room?" _Shinou asked.

"_This is my room, 'our' room, actually." _Yuuri replied.

"_Yuuri, before we enter this room. I want you to promise me that you will stay calm and won't get to be all 'Maou-mode' because even though we are ghosts, when we exhibit very strong emotions; 'the living' will be able to sense our presence. And we don't want that to happen because if that happens, we will be attached to the world of the living… Are we clear?" _Shinou glared at him, as if trying to make Yuuri swear to death.

Yuuri just swallowed.

"_Then I guess that's a yes." _Shinou then opened the door for Yuuri to enter first.

The young ex-maou bit his lip with anticipation.

"_Shinou, there's no one here." _

"_Really? Try to look around." _was all Shinou's reply.

Then Yuuri tried to walk further unto the room. As he reached the other side of the room facing the window…

--

"_Oh on…It can't be… This isn't possible….'_

Yuuri was taken aback with what was in front of him, of who was in front of him.

"_Wolfram…"_

The blond sitting on the floor in his night gown staring blankly at the window; this was not the Wolfram he was expecting to see.

Yuuri then, forced by his sudden urge, knelt beside Wolfram and tried to grab the blonde's hand, but his hands went through. No matter how hard he tried, it didn't work. He can't touch Wolfram, nor is Wolfram even moving a single muscle...

Then tears started to run down Yuuri's cheeks. The young maou then turned to Shinou. _"What happened to him?"_

"_When you died, Wolfram here was really saddened, but he still stood firm and accepted it. He actually handled it pretty well, that's what everyone thought. After a few weeks of Andrei's reign over Shin Makoku, Wolfram accidentally fell off his horse and was severely injured. Everyone thought that he will die, but he woke up. But when he woke up, he was already like this. He won't talk. He won't eat. He won't move. And right now, he's just a doll, an empty shell; his right in front of you but yet his so far. For some reason, he had been like that ever since. Andrei even ordered for Wolfram to be sent back to Biefeld territory to be taken care of, but his brothers insisted that he stay here for them to keep a good eye on him. They all hoped that Wolfram will get better soon. They thought that in a few days he would just snap out of it but he never did. And then days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and without them noticing, it's already been a year. Many doctors have tried to cure Wolfram but nothing. I guess blonde here lost his will to live when he lost you. This was the reason why Lady Celli took Greta with her, because she didn't want Greta to see Wolfram's situation." _Shinou looked away. Believe it or not, Shinou was too overwhelmed by his sympathy to the young lad that he can't even bear to look into Yuuri's black eyes.

Yuuri felt as if his heart was being crunched. _"Why did this happen? Why? This can't be happening! Why? Why? Wolfram, why?"_

"_Yuuri you promised me that you will stay calm. So do it, or else we will be attached. We won't be able to accept that we are no longer part of this world. That's ghost rule no. 1 for you. And even if we don't get attached into this world, we can't do anything to help. Now calm down, someone's coming." _Shinou then put his arms around Yuuri and pulled him away from Wolfram.

Moments later, Gisela entered the room.

--

"_Lord Wolfram? Lord wolfram, why are you sitting in the floor, again? Let me get you to bed." _Gisela then pulled Wolfram unto the bed.

"_Good Morning Lord Wolfram! It's a fine day today isn't it? Did you sleep well last night?" _She asked but there was no response.

"_Everyone had already taken their breakfast, now it's time for you to eat yours." _Gisela smiled.

She then fed wolfram and let him drink his medicines. Yuuri watched all this, trying to stop his sobs.

"_There, we're all done. Lord Wolfram, I'll just bring this down to the kitchen. I'll be back in an instant." _She said as she grabbed the tray and left the room.

"_Shinou…was he always left like this?" _Yuuri asked as he tried to wipe his tears away.

"_Well yes…" _Shinou replied.

Then suddenly, Wolfram rose from his bed and went outside.

"_What is he doing?" _asked Yuuri.

"_Leaving." _Shinou answered sarcastically. Then he turned serious. _"We better follow him."_

They then followed the blond silently as he walked through the vast hallways.

"_Where is he heading to? He shouldn't be walking around like this! What if something happens to him? He shouldn't be left alone in his situation!" _Yuuri complained.

--

Yuuri didn't know what to feel when he realized where his fiancé was heading, in Shibuya Shrine. (It was where his huge statue was placed)

"_Wolfram…"_

The two watched carefully as Wolfram unconsciously walked closer to the fountain and placed a lily on a paper boat and let it sail unto the little fountain.

Yuuri was bewildered. He didn't know what to do as he helplessly watch Wolfram make a fool of him self. It was too painful to see his loved one like this. _"Shinou this is all my fault…"_

"_Yuuri, we have nothing to do with what happens to the people we love once we die. It's not your fault Yuuri…" _Shinou comforted the young ex-maou but it was to no use.

"_It's unfair! How come everyone get to recover and live a happy life except for Wolfram! It's not fair!!! They all lived happily ever after but how come it's only Wolfram who gets to suffer like this!" _Yuuri was taken adown by his grief.

"_You know, Yuuri, it's not only Wolfram who is suffering right now…"_ Shinou sighed. _"There is something that I didn't tell you Yuuri, that I think you deserve to know." _

Yuuri glared. _"What's wrong? We're you lying to me all this time?"_

"_Well partly, yes." _Shinou replied. _"Do you really want to know? Then come with me." _

"_Wait! What about Wolfram? We can't leave him here!" _

"_Don't worry; he does this every single day. A guard will see him and bring him back to his room." _Shinou assured. _"Now let's go." _He then grabbed Yuuri by the wrist and took him to the maou's office.

--

"_Yuuri, this time, you really have to promise me that you won't get all Maou-centric. Andrei is a kin and very observant man. One twitch of your emotion and boom! He will be able to feel our presence, so keep your emotional-meter down." _Shinou stared defiantly at Yuuri.

Yuuri nodded.

They then went through the walls to enter the maou's office. Inside was Ken Murata talking to Andrei about something.

"_So Andrei-heika, are you sure you don't need any help in making decisions or something like that. If you do you can always count on me." _Murata said as he pushed his glasses up to his nose.

"_Thanks for the offer Geika but I'm alright. I can handle it myself and besides Gunter and Gwendal is here. We don't need your assistance here, great sage." _Andrei replied with a plastered smile.

"_Oh really? Then it's okay. I'm just bored staying in the temple, that's all." _Ken Murata replied.

"_Bored? Then why don't you try to go back to Earth where you truly belong?" _Andrei asked intently.

"_That's a very good idea but I think that I am no longer needed there." _Murata smiled at Andrei.

"_Yes you are right Geika; you are no longer needed on earth, same here in Shin Makoku." w_as Andrei's boorish reply.

Yuuri cocked an eye brow. He never thought that someone like Andrei could say something like that.

Murata smirked. _"Is that what you think so? Then let me remind you Andrei-heika, I am of equal rank to you. And all the power you have over Shin Makoku, I also posses. If you can make the mountains bow down to your feet then I can do that as well. Remember that…" _

"_Was that a threat, your highness?" _Andrei asked back.

"_No it's not, it was just a warning." _Murata answered back.

"_Warning?" _Andrei smirked back.

"_Yes, but I guess it is not you who needs a warning, it is all of shin Makoku. Am I right, King Andrei Ne'voucce?" _was Murata's retort.

Andrei then stood from his seat and crunched his hands into fists. _"You don't have any proof!"_

"_I soon will, your majesty, very soon. Too soon…for you I'm afraid." _Murata smiled.

Andrei then sat down again and sighed. _"Your highness, I'm afraid this conversation is getting a little out of hand." _

"_I think so as well. I should be living now or else I might end up like Lord Von Biefeld did." _Murata smirked intently.

Yuuri's heart stopped. _'What?'_

"_What did he mean by that, Shinou?" _Yuuri asked, dumbfounded.

"_I'll explain to you later. We should leave this room first before I tell you this." _Shinou replied.

As Yuuri was about to follow Ken Murata out of the room when Shinou grabbed Yuuri's collar to stop him. _"Wait a minute, you got to see this."_

"_See what?"_

"_Andrei-heika, it's me, Yozak." _The man called from outside the room.

"_It's Yozak!" _Yuuri shrieked in glee.

"_I said listen!" _Shinou stipulated.

"_Is he gone?" _asked Andrei.

"_Yes sir, his Eminence is heading to the main gate to go back to Shinou temple." _answered Yozak.

The Maou sighed in relief. _"Yozak, has the great sage obtained any concrete evidence against me?" _

"_Oh no sire, he has nothing. All he has are speculations." _Yozak assured.

"_Accurate Speculations, Yozak. He has accurate speculations." _Andrei corrected. "_He has figured out every single strand of my plan. There's no doubt about it, Ken Murata really is the Great Sage. That is why he is great threat to my plans!"_ He concluded.

"_But sir, he can't do anything even if he has accurate speculations! No one will believe him without any evidence! I'll make sure that he won't-" _Yozak depended.

"_Well, you believed him without any evidence, didn't you? How can I be sure that no one else will?" _Andrei confronted.

Yozak was left wordless.

"_Yozak, are you trying to save Ken Murata? Are you disobeying me?" _Andrei asked angrily.

"_No sir, of course not, it's just that I-"_ Yozak tried to depend his side but he can't do anything against this man.

Andrei smirked at him. _"Yozak, Yozak, Yozak, let me remind you that I can call my hired assassin anytime to kill Lord Weller, or I can kill himself. Remember Yozak, I have limitless power over everything, even beyond Yuuri-heika's, it's seems that you have forgotten."_

"_I will bear that in my mind, your majesty." _Yozak answered vulnerably.

"_Good. Now go to the Shinou temple and tell his highness that you didn't see anything suspicious here in Blood Pledged Castle or any tangible proof to support his accusations, oh and break it to him gently, you might break his heart!" _Andrei laughed cruelly.

"_Consider it done, sire." _Yozak then bowed his head then got going.

"_Come on Yuuri, we better step outside." _Shinou then dragged Yuuri through the wall out of the office room.

_--_

"_What now, Shinou-heika? I know, you know something that you didn't tell me a while ago!" _Yuuri looked at Shinou sternly.

"_Yuuri, Andrei is not the person that you think he is. Andrei is not, peace-loving, kind-hearted, or anything like you Yuuri. Andrei is your total opposite. His fairness was all for show to win that silly contest, to be maou, to get what he wants. Behind those agricultural projects that Andrei has is a dark and vicious plan. Yuuri, Andrei is planning to take over the world. To slay all of the human race and let mazokus dominate and rule over this world. His dream is to make us mazokus, the superior race of all living creatures that ever walked on this fertile soil. And his first step to this so-called world domination is to infiltrate the defense of every human country through barter trade of our agricultural products, that's why he paid much attention on the agricultural aspect here in Shin Makoku. And when he has them eating in the palm of his hands, he will threaten them into giving him control over their country. Or else he will put that country under an economic sanction. Right now, Shin Makoku is the biggest source of herbal medicinal plants of many human countries. Yuuri, this is a very serious matter, this could chaos and destruction…And another devastating war." _Shinou glared at Yuuri, trying to predict what his reaction would be.

Yuuri remained silent. The young confused lad looked down to the floor. _"Shinou, you're joking, right?"_

Shinou shook his head in reply. _"Wolfram, by chance, found out about this, so Andrei had to do something. While training, he scared Wolfram's horse that caused him to fall from it. No one was there when that happened, so no one found out about it."_

Shinou waited for Yuuri's reaction, but the young ex-maou didn't do anything, as if he didn't hear anything.

Yuuri then looked straight into Shinou's eyes. "Why? _WWWWWHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYY!!!!!!"_

Suddenly, large amount of maryoku started to flow out of Yuuri. _"Why are they doing this? When I became Maou, I promised everyone that war will never befall Shin Makoku ever again, so why are they doing this????!!!! It's not fair! I did everything to bring peace but their the ones whose throwing it away! Why????!!!!" _

"_YUURI CALM DOWN!"_

"_WHY, Shinou? Why are they doing this!?" _

It was actually happening. Yuuri was turning into the Maou again.

And then the ground started to shake. Everyone in the castle braced their selves.

"_Yuuri calm down! Your Maou-mode can't do anything to help in our situation! We're dead! If you keep this going you'll just destroy the whole castle! Stop it now! Please…just stop this now…" _Shinou beseeched.

Then Yuuri started to gain his composure again. The grounds stopped shaking.

"_Yuuri, I know its hard to accept, but we can't help them like this. Perhaps this is our fate. To watch helplessly as Shin Makoku is consumed by Andrei's hatred over humans…" _Shinou said as his resentments overwhelmed him.

"_Is there really nothing we can do to help?" _Yuuri asked to no one in particular, realizing that everything Shinou had said is true.

The Original King didn't have the guts to stare into Yuuri's eyes. The young ex-maou got his sympathy; Shinou knew well how it felt like to be so incapable, watching as his beloved country was being drawn to chaos. No, his own country, creating the chaos itself, and being engulfed by it…

--

After a few minutes the two sat in the hallways staring everyone who passes by.

"_What's your plan now?" _Shinou asked.

"_I honestly don't know." _answered Yuuri.

Then suddenly,

"_Lady Gisela, Lord Wolfram is missing again! He's not in his room!" _shouted one maid.

Shinou and Yuuri looked at each other and nodded.

They then headed to the Shibuya shrine.

--

There they found Wolfram sitting by the fountain, staring at the almost-sinking paper boat.

The young ex-maou then approached the blond cagily. He tried to touch him in the shoulder but his hands just went through.

He then sat beside the blond and tried to caress his cheeks ever-so-gently so that his hands won't go through. Yuuri stared straight unto his fiancé's eyes but all he saw was nothing. Blank. Emptiness.

At that moment, all Yuuri felt was his _'longing'_ for the blond. Such strong emotions were also the ones that made Wolfram like this.

Then unexpectedly, a tear feel down from Wolfram's left eye. Yuuri did not know what he should feel.

"_Wolfram…" _Yuuri then tried to wipe away the tear with his translucent hands.

Then he tried to hold the blond's hand and he successfully did!

Shinou was surprised as well. _"Well what do you know; a ghost actually touched a living being. I knew that ghosts can touch things of 'The Living' but I never knew that a ghost can touch a living creature. That's a discovery."_

Yuuri was unexplainably happy with what happened. It's as if he doesn't want to let go of the blond's hand ever again, he was afraid that if he did, he won't be able to touch it again. He then grabbed Wolfram's hand against his translucent cheeks. Like the way it was before, he's palm was as soft and smooth as ever. For Yuuri, it felt like heaven. For Shinou, it was dreadfully disgusting.

Due to his exasperation, Shinou retorted, _"Would you cut it out, Yuuri? It's sending chills down my spine!"_

Yuuri laughed at that. Then Shinou laughed as well, and even for a little while, their worries about the kingdom were forgotten.

--

"_Come Wolfram, we better take you to your room." _Yuuri then grabbed Wolfram by the hand. The blond didn't respond to anything 'yet', at least. But Yuuri was filled with hope.

While they were walking towards 'their' room, the maids saw them, him, I mean.

"_Lord Wolfram!"_ one called.

"_There you are. We've been looking for you since this morning. Where have you been?" _The other one asked.

"_Were you seriously expecting an answer from him? That's ridiculous! You know that Lord Wolfram won't answer! You should have taken good care of him so that you won't lose him!" _The third one commented.

Yuuri then gently let go of Wolfram's hand as the maids took him to his room.

For a moment, Yuuri stayed silent.

"_What's wrong kid?" _Shinou asked.

"_Wolfram, I promise, everything will be alright." _He said to himself.

"_Teenagers, full of hopes and dreams." _Shinou sighed. _"What are you planning now, 'Yuuri-heika'?"_

Yuuri smirked. _"By the tone of your voice, it's as if you know something. A solution, perhaps?" _

Shinou smirked back at him. _"You are very smart, Yuuri."_

"_So you do know a way!" _Yuuri concluded.

"_Yes, but it can cost us a steep price." _Shinou warned.

"_I don't care. I will save Shin Makoku, save Wolfram, no matter what the cost!" _Yuuri was determined.

Shinou smiled at him. _"Now that's what I've been waiting for you to say."_

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**And that's that! It's all done! Yey me! **

**Well to all of you who actually bothered to read my fic thanks and sorry if this chap is a bit confusing. Just tell me if you can't understand, I'll explain it to you! **

**Please review!**

**Thanks! Happy New Year! ******


	6. Chapter 5: The Cost

**Hi everyone! sorry, it took me some time to update this chapter...you see, the minute that I've finished the draft, an idea crossed my mind...so I said to myself, "may be I should rewrite this chapter..." **

**So well, this is it...Please read and review..thanks!**

**And By the way, sorry for all my errors...**

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**Chapter 5: Cost**

"_Wolfram, I promise, everything will be alright." _He said to himself.

"_Teenagers. Full of hopes and dreams." _Shinou sighed. _"What are you planning now, 'Yuuri-heika'?"_

Yuuri smirked. _"By the tone of your voice, it's as if you know something. A solution, perhaps?" _

Shinou smirked back at him. _"You are very smart, Yuuri."_

"_So you do know a way!" _Yuuri concluded.

"_Yes, but it can cost us a steep price." _Shinou warned.

"_I don't care. I will save Shin Makoku, save Wolfram, no matter what the cost!" _Yuuri was determined.

Shinou smiled at him. _"Now that's what I've been waiting for you to say."_

--

"_You mean you've known something the whole time and you didn't even bother to tell me, 'Hey Yuuri, don't worry, it's not the end of world. I know a solution.' For God's sake-" _Shinou then pulled Yuuri's face an inch away from his by the collar.

"_You know what, you talk too much. That's why I didn't have the chance to tell you that I was just testing you. I just wanted to know how much you love my precious Shin Makoku. Don't worry, you definitely passed the test! And besides you could have figured out about the solution sooner or later so I thought that may be playing with you for a little bit wouldn't hurt." _The blond then let go of the said collar.

"_What? You mean you were just playing with me? This isn't one of your stupid games that you played all those years! We're talking about your country here!" _Exasperation was Yuuri's immediate reaction.

"_Relax kid… I know what's on the risk here and yes I was fooling around a bit," _then he paused. "_But let me tell you this: if ever it comes down to the worst case scenario, then I am ready to lay down my life for the Great Demon Kingdom. I love this country, and I've poured every ounce of my whole being for Shin Makoku: I won't let anything harsh devour this country and the people in it… Remember that, Yuuri…" _

Yuuri was speechless as two crystal blue eyes met his. Pure Resolve. It was the only emotion he could feel, looking unto those crystal blue orbs. No. Yuuri shook his head. It was love. Pure love for Shin Makoku, for his people, that he could do everything (even to plot his own death like he did in the series) just to see his people happy. For everyone he loves the most to be free…

Free. Free from darkness and suffering…

'_I've never seen eyes like those…they're so…'_

Yuuri was all fired up. He had never met someone with this strong will to fight and stand up for the ones he cared for. He felt sympathy over this once great mazoku. Perhaps, because, they felt the same, and suffered the same fate: dying for Shin Makoku.

Yuuri smiled softly. _"I'll remember that…Shinou-heika…"_

"_What's with the sudden formalities? 'Yuuri-heika'…"_

"_It's nothing…"_

_--_

"_So what do we do now? What's that solution you were talking about that I would have thought of?" _Yuuri asked sarcastically.

His been trying to ask Shinou of the so-called solution to their problem but the guy kept on playing with him, giving baloney clues that doesn't help a bit. Yuuri was starting to get annoyed.

"_Okay, my 50__th__ clue is: it is the first thing a dead man would have thought of to save everybody." _was his balderdash reply.

"_You're starting to get into my nerves!" _Yuuri replied angrily.

"_I am? Perfect!"_

Shinou winked at him.

"_I hate it when you do that!" _He snapped.

"_You do?" _then Shinou winked at him again.

"_Oh! Can't you just stop that and give me the damn answer!" _Yuuri demanded.

Shinou paused to think. _"No, I can't…"_

Yuuri slapped his forehead and released a defeated sigh.

"_Give yourself a break baseball kid…you're acting like a grown up!" _Shinou remarked.

"_And you're not acting like one at all.…" _Yuuri snapped. _"And besides, the day I became Demon King was the day I threw my childhood away."_

"_That's a pity. The reason that I chose you as maou is not only because you are the reincarnation of Suzanah Julia, it's also because you act like a child. Actually, you're as innocent as a child. Kids are the purest beings you'll ever find. They have a pure heart and pure intentions. The only character they play is them selves. They say what they want to say and don't feel bad about it. They get angry but still forgive and more importantly, forgets everything right after that. They don't keep grudges in those pure hearts of theirs. If I had some kind of wishing coin, I will wish for kids to never grow up." _The blond then stared at the bright blue sky.

"_Shinou…"_

"_You know what? Let's just cut this crap and I'll tell you what you want to know."_

_--_

"_Well Yuuri, have you heard of those people who are called clairvoyant?" _Shinou asked.

"_Clairvoyant? I know I've heard of that word before but I just can't put a finger on it…Hmm…I do remember that it was something that Murata had said way, way back before I died…Hmmm…" _Yuuri touched his chin with his index finger, hoping that it will help him remember.

"_Take your time…" _Shinou said sarcastically.

"_Hey I know! Clairvoyants are those rare people who have the ability to communicate or sometimes, interact with the supernatural!" _Yuuri looked at Shinou intently, hopeful that he was right.

"_Correct! And they're the ones who can help us." _

"_You maybe right but, where are we suppose to find one here in Shin Makoku? I mean come on! Do they some kind of emblem or some kind of mark or something?" _

Shinou shook his head gently. _"They don't have any mark or any symbol of some sort. But I do know a specific someone who can see ghostly apparitions like us…" _

"_And who's that?" _

"_You'll know soon enough…"_

Then Shinou snapped his finger. Yuuri looked at him puzzled.

He then pointed downwards. The double-black then looked down and saw a hole. No, a portal, his stepping at the portal! The portal is beneath them!

"_AAHHHHHH!!!! SHINOU!!!!!!"_

--

"_Do you really have to surprise me all the time?" _Yuuri hypothetically asked.

"_Yes."_

"_Your not suppose to answer that!" _

"_Well I'm sorry, 'Yuuri-heika'. I was too bedazzled by your greatness that I've committed something against your will…" _Shinou said sarcastically, and made a curtsied.

"_You know what? Right now, I don't have any idea as to why you were called 'the great one'…" _Yuuri sighed. _"Where are we anyway?"_

"_Turn around."_

"_Hmm?" _Yuuri then did as what Shinou said. _"Shinou temple…"_

--

"_What are we doing here?" _

"_Well duh? What do you think? Of course were here for Ulrike!" _Shinou cocked an eyebrow.

"_Ulrike? Why? What for?" _

Shinou slapped his forehead with frustration. _"Come on kid! Think! Why else would we need her for? Of course we're here because Ulrike is the person I am talking about! She has the gift of clairvoyance!" _

"_She is? That's wonderful! I never knew that Ulrike can see ghosts."_

"_Yuuri, even before you even defeated me, I was already a bound soul. I stay in that temple, remember? So think about it, why do I need a Genshi Miko? I need her as a medium to communicate with the mazokus, so to put it simple, Genshi mikos should have the so-called seeing or hearing ability, rather, in order to hear my voice." _He explained. _"Get it?"_

"_Yeah, I get it. Thanks…" _Yuuri gave his signature goofy smile.

Shinou just sighed and shook his head in '_this-guy's-hopeless' _way.

--

"_So why are doing this again?" _Yuuri asked. _"We're ghosts for god's sake! Why are we 'sneaking' in? Nobody can see us? This is stupid!"_

"_No, you're the one whose stupid goofball! Do you know that you have the habit of talking without thinking?" _Shinou shook his head. _"No, you don't have to answer that. You obviously don't. Anyways, try to use that head of yours. Why would someone sneak in, instead of entering right in front of that huge door and hell it would be easier? Simple, because they have to enter this place secretly, without being seen…And if you'd ask why, well because commodore-fluffy-paws is somewhere in here."_

"_Huh? Who's commodore-fluffy-paws?" _

"_Well, duh? Who else? It's Mr. four-eyes-know-it-all…" _

"_You mean Murata?"_

"_Yup."_

"_Why do we have to hide from him?"_

"_He's not clairvoyant but I know he can feel our presence back there in Blood Pledged castle. If he finds out about this, it will spoil all my plans…And please don't ask of my plan because I'm not telling you, because you're just going to spoil it as well…"_

Yuuri sighed dejectedly. _"Fine I won't, just please-, at least inform me before doing anything rash."_

"_Of course, Yuuri-heika…" _

"_You're mocking me again!" _Yuuri stomped his foot like a kid who wants his daddy to buy him something.

Shinou just smiled. He knew Yuuri was childish, but his never really experienced being a babysitter himself. But somehow, the more Yuuri acts childishly, the more he was sure that he made the right choice of choosing Yuuri to be the one to defeat him.

"_Now are you done being all 'you have to respect me because I am the maou?'?"_

"_Hey! I'm not like that at all!"_

"_Of course you aren't… Now come on, time is gold…And you can't just waste gold…It's pretty expensive…" _Shinou joked.

"_HA-ha…Funny…." _Yuuri retorted sarcastically.

"_Whatever…Let's just get moving and find Ulrike… Actually, I think I know where she is this very moment." _

--

"_There she is…" _Shinou muttered pointed at Ulrike who was praying silently at the middle of the oracle.

"_She must me going nuts, praying to someone who no longer resides there…" _For once in so many years, Shinou felt guilt. Guilt over leaving this one person behind; this person, who talked to him, and listened to him for so many years, this person who devoted her whole life to him, and now that he's gone, there's nothing left for her to offer her life to.

_No…purpose…_

"_Oh Shinou-heika… Why had you left Shin Makoku, and took our only hope with you…" _Ulrike said to no one in particular as she is unaware, that someone was there with her.

"_Ulrike…" _Yuuri felt guilt as well… There was nothing more painful than seeing the ones you love so helpless, but yet you can't do anything to help…_yet…_

Shinou took a deep breath. Yes, he was nervous, no anxious… He can't bear just seeing all of this happening; he has to do something, fast.

He headed towards the Genshi Miko. His steps becoming a lot lighter as he got closer,

He stretched his arm, and placed his hand above her shoulder, very careful for his hand not to go through her small body,

"_To whom are you talking too, Ulrike?" _He said in a gentle voice.

Ulrike's heart pounded. Is she actually feeling this? This hand…it's… _"SHINOU-HEIKA!" _She exclaimed.

She impulsively turned around to see for her own eyes; yes…it was all true… It's her master, Shinou. He was really there, quite translucent but he was there, standing right in front of her.

"_Shinou-heika," _She was speechless.

"_Yes, Ulrike…It is me… I've- come back…" _He smiled at her.

Ulrike was touched by his genuine smile, and ever-so-kind nostalgic voice, that never fails to bring out joy in her… Finally, for such a long time, she felt that she has a purpose…again.

Yuuri, on the other hand, stayed quite to not spoil this precious moment between these two very close friends of his. He just watched them from where he was standing, and just cherished this special moment. Hey, it's not everyday that he gets to see his friends this happy.

"_Your majesty Shinou, I am so glad that I can finally-" _Ulrike reached out to Shinou and tried to touch him, but to no avail… Yes, she is clairvoyant, she can communicate with these supernatural creatures but she is still human…or mazoku rather, there is no way that she can touch him.

"_Shinou-heika…"_

"_Baseball kid, you can come out now!" _Shinou called.

Yuuri then walked in.

He smiled goofily and rubbed scratched the back of his neck. _"It's nice seeing you again, Ulrike…"_

"_Yuuri-heika! Is it really you?" _

"_Yes… It's me…"_

"_Your majesty…" _was all she could utter, teary-eyed.

Shinou then sighed. Time is gold. And he has to do something, fast. It's time to take things seriously.

"_Ulrike, we need your help." _

Ulrike stared at him blankly, until she realized what he meant. _"If I am not mistaken, you are talking about the new maou?"_

Shinou nodded.

"_You know about it?"_ Yuuri asked.

"_I know everything, your majesty. Ever since his eminence formed his conclusions on King Andrei's true intentions, he had informed me on every single detail of it. Just this morning, he went to Blood Pledged Castle, and he told me that he and the maou-"_

"_Yes we know. They had an argument. We were there when that happened." _Yuuri said.

"_I won't go into loops with this; Ulrike, we can't do anything to help in this state. Help us Ulrike. Bring us back to life. Use the Kirikae…." _Shinou glared at her intently.

"_But Shinou-heika-…" _Ulrike tried to reason out but didn't pursue. She knew that she had no right to say no. Shinou is her master, she is his servant. But, making her use the forbidden ancient ritual? This must be a very, very serious matter.

Kirikae is the greatest of all the forbidden ancient rituals in the history of Shin Makoku. Kirikae is a fusing a wandering soul into a live being's body. Using that body's spirit energy, the soul takes this body as his own, and therefore, claiming possession to this living body. It is very much a like to possessing a person, but this technique is permanent. And after claiming possession to the body, the body transforms into the soul's appearance when he was still alive. In other words, it's like taking someone's life to have yours.

"_Kirikae? What's that?" _Yuuri, paying no attention to Gunter's history lessons, asked curiously.

"_It is a form of a ritual that can bring us back to life…" _Shinou replied.

"_Really? You can do that? That's brilliant!" _Yuuri was amazed; he never knew that Ulrike can do such things.

"_But it has a steep price, Yuuri-heika…" _Ulrike's expression saddened.

"_What is it, Ulrike? What do I have to give up?"_

Shinou glared at Yuuri and said; _"You've got nothing to give up, Yuuri. To put it simple, in this ritual, we need to 'sacrifice' one's life, to keep bring to life, the other one… Yuuri, that is our price to pay; to take the life of another in exchange to ours… " _

"_No…"_

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**So how was it? please review...thanks for reading!!!**


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